Metabolic engineering of the catabolic end-product metabolism of Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum was initiated. T. saccharolyticum is an anaerobic, thermophilic bacterium that utilizes xylans and xylose, the second most prominent sugar after...

As methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) hospitalizations keep increasing, the understanding of the characteristics that make one isolate more successful over another is paramount. Strain variations among Staphylococcus aureus observed...

The coordination and coupling of the several steps in mRNA biogenesis helps to ensure proper regulation of gene expression. The DEAD-box helicase Dbp5/Rat8 is an essential mRNA export factor that has also been implicated in other steps of mRNA...

NIMA-related kinases (Neks) control several aspects of cell division downstream of master mitotic regulators such as Cdk1 and Plk1. Though depletion of Nek6, Nek7, or Nek9 results in cytokinesis failure, to date no molecular mechanism has been...

Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) is a neurovisceral disease that causes intracellular accumulation of cholesterol and other lipids. The exact mechanism how the defects in cholesterol trafficking pathways result in the progressive neurological damage is...

The Arabidopsis catalase gene family contains at least three genes, encoding subunits which combine in tetramers to form 7 detectable isozymes. Two of these genes are within 250 bp of each other at a single locus (CAT3/1) near the top of chromosome...

A 62 kDa (p62) mitotic apparatus-associated protein has been shown to be important for the proper progression of mitosis in sea urchin embryos. The thesis project described here focuses on an immunological and a molecular characterization of p62....

Transition metals play critical roles in biological systems as essential components of metalloproteins and metalloenzymes, as diagnostic probes and pharmaceuticals, and in some instances, as sources of toxicity. Cellular concentrations vary...

Chapter II of this thesis describes the synthesis of a number of sulfobetaines and bissulfobetaines to be evaluated as inhibitors of squalene synthase (SS) on the basis of the idea proposed by Shechter that their zwitterionic structure would be...

Esterification of cholesterol by acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) is a key element in maintaining cholesterol homeostasis in cells of higher animals. In the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, accumulation of ergosteryl esters...

The thermophilic anaerobic bacterium Clostridium thermocellum has attracted researchers attention because of its potential industrial application and high cellulose hydrolysis rates. This study focuses on the physiological fundamentals of C....

A sustainable energy future is critical for environmental and strategic reasons. One alternative to petroleum used for transportation is ethanol derived from cellulosic biomass. The major barrier for biomass conversion is a cost effective method...

NAD+ is an essential co-enzyme for hydride transfer enzymes and a consumed substrate of multiple signaling enzymes including the sirtuins, a family of protein lysine deacetylases shown to regulate longevity in a wide array of organisms. We have...

WC-1 and WC-2 are essential for most light responses in Neurospora crassa, but the molecular mechanisms underlying gene induction and the roles of other real and putative photoreceptors remain poorly characterized. Unsupervised hierarchical...

Statement of the problem. Drug-eluting stents (DES) dramatically reduce the incidence of coronary restenosis, a frequent complication of percutaneous coronary interventions in the treatment of obstructive arterial diseases. However, they have been...

Biofilm formation is a complex process culminating in a multicellular microbial structure encased in an extracellular matrix. In order for planktonic cells to initiate and proceed through biofilm formation, they must appropriately regulate a number...

The increasing demand for transportation energy coupled with the need to reduce carbon emissions for a sustainable future are driving forces to develop alternative fuels. One promising alternative to petroleum is conversion of lignocellulosic...

Many microbes thrive in conditions that would be detrimental to human life. These microorganisms have been dubbed extremophiles. Of these, members of a subcategory, termed thermophiles, grow optimally above 45°C. Thermoanaerobacterium...